To the One Who's Only Cold to Me - Chapter 25

Sophia stepped closer again to Arthur, who had just pulled his hand away from her. Her face, now red, was filled with both jealousy and shame. Normally, Arthur would have comforted Sophia with kind words when she got jealous of Aisha. But not today. He had no intention of doing so now. Instead, he signaled for her not to come any closer and barely managed to hide his anger behind a blank expression.

“Sophia. Don’t twist your words for no reason. I’m not going to listen to your whining.”

“Whining? You think I’m whining?”

“Sophia!”

Arthur’s anger, which had been simmering, finally burst. Sophia flinched at his loud voice and her eyes filled with tears. With a trembling voice and a pitiful expression, she spoke to him.

“Why… why are you yelling at me? Arthur, how could you shout at me like that? Wahhh…”

“Haa…”

“Sophia, even if you cry, I won’t comfort you today. Just tell me. Why did you do it?”

Arthur remained firm even in the face of Sophia’s tears. Realizing that her tears wouldn’t help her this time, Sophia shut her mouth, biting her lips. The reason she spread the rumor? There was only one.

Because she hated Aisha Parden!

“Don’t tell me you did it without a reason?”

“I hate Aisha! I just hate her!”

Hearing her childish outburst, Arthur felt all his energy drain. The disgusting rumor something so vile he didn’t even want to repeat it had ruined his sister’s honor and could even ruin her entire life. And yet, it had all started from a childish feeling.

Arthur looked at his lover. Sophia was still beautiful, even as she cried. But today, at this moment, she didn’t look as lovely as she usually did.

“I was just joking around with some close friends. Everyone talks behind each other’s backs. I just did the same.”

Noticing Arthur’s disappointed expression, Sophia stopped sobbing and tried to explain. She was scared. She had never seen that kind of look on Arthur’s face before.

“Spreading a false rumor is a malicious crime.”

“A-Arthur. Don’t be mad, okay? Please? It was just a joke. Just a joke.”

“Really! And I never said anything like what the rumors are saying now.”

“You knew about the rumors? And you still kept quiet?”

Sophia had nothing to say in response to Arthur’s question. She had been afraid of how much worse the rumors had become, but deep inside, she had also enjoyed it. Hearing Aisha Parden’s name being tossed around and insulted by others had given her a twisted sense of satisfaction.

“What exactly did you say to people? Tell me.”

As Sophia hesitated, Arthur changed the way he asked. Looking at him nervously, she finally began to speak.

“I-I said that you weren’t going to get engaged to Aisha. And the reason was”

“B-because Aisha already had a man”

“But that’s all I said. I never said anything like Aisha being caught in bed with a man or that she wasn’t a virgin or anything like that!”

The more Sophia talked, the darker Arthur’s expression became. Sophia suddenly clung to him and grabbed his clothes tightly.

“Arthur, d-don’t be mad. Sniff. You understand, right? You know why I hate Aisha.”

“Hic… You told me you were on my side, not like the others. Right?”

Arthur’s hard expression changed slightly at Sophia’s words. Sophia Lloyd was breaking the rules. You said you’d be on my side. Since she said those words, Arthur had no choice but to become weak.

I hated Aisha. Everyone’s on her side. Everyone only cares about her.

Sophia…

Arthur, no one cares about me. I don’t have a mom or dad… even my brothers are the same. Everyone only praises Aisha. But I’m prettier. I’m better. Yet everyone… sniff…

Don’t cry, Sophia. I’ll… be on your side.

What?

I understand why you feel that way. I understand you.

R-Really? But Aisha is your real sister. Even my brother is on her side, so why are you…?

Because, like you said, Aisha has other people on her side. So I’ll be the one person who’s on yours. Sophia.

Arthur understood better than anyone why Sophia hated Aisha. They had shared the same kind of shadowed life. He knew exactly what it felt like to live in someone else’s shadow—always ignored, always second-best.

Just this once… Since the rumor has been exaggerated… just this once…

Arthur closed his eyes tightly, then opened them. In the end, he decided to save Sophia. If it had been anyone else who started that kind of rumor about Aisha, he would have sent them straight to hell without a second thought. But not Sophia. He kept telling himself it would be just this one time and tried to push down his rising guilt.

“Edward knows it was you. And it’s only a matter of time before Daniel finds out too.”

“What?”

“Edward isn’t planning to let this go. He hasn’t said anything yet, but he’s thinking about taking it to court.”

“W-What should I do then? Arthur, what should I do?”

Arthur looked at Sophia with deep pain in his eyes. With a tired voice, he finally told her the best solution he could think of.

“You need to go tell our father first. Ask for forgiveness. Tell Ian too. As soon as you can.”

Ian would try to protect his little sister, Sophia. And Count Parden, even if he got furious at what had been done to his daughter Aisha, would probably forgive Sophia once if she apologized first—for the sake of his deceased best friends, Sophia’s parents.

Aisha…

Arthur bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to bleed as he thought of his sister, who would suffer most because of his decision. He knew this wasn’t right. But in the end, he made the wrong choice.

“Do I really have to go that far?”

Whether she knew his struggle or not, Sophia showed clear reluctance with her pale face. Arthur’s eyes flared with anger.

“You really—! Haa…”

“Arthur…”

“If you don’t want this to go to court, you’d better hurry. If Edward acts first, not even Ian or our father can protect you. So just go and accept punishment from them. Got it?”

“O-Okay. I’ll go see Uncle right away. I’ll talk to my brother too.”

Now understanding the seriousness of the situation, Sophia nodded with a deflated expression. Arthur almost reached out, as if by habit, to touch her tear-streaked face—but stopped himself and turned away.

“Let’s keep some distance for now. I need time to think.”

“Arthur!”

“I’m leaving.”

“Arthur! Arthur, don’t go! Arthur!”

Arthur left the lounge without looking back. Sophia tried to stop him but failed and collapsed onto the couch. She looked at the door he had walked out of, tears welling again. But her expression slowly began to change. She wiped her tears roughly with her sleeve and whispered someone’s name, her bloodshot eyes full of hatred.

“This is all your fault.”

Alone in the lounge, the sound of her teeth grinding was chilling.

Aisha’s face had lost all its color. The man who had saved her grabbed the collar of the man who had fallen and, with one hand, lifted him into the air before punching him without hesitation.

Thud.

With a dull sound, a groan followed. Soon, all three men including Vincent had fainted. Their faces were swollen and bloody beyond recognition. Aisha even began to worry that someone might die at this rate.

“Y-Your Highness…”

Aisha called out to her savior in a trembling voice. Jared, who had been glaring at the fallen men, looked surprised at her voice. He let go of the man and gave her an awkward smile.

“Sorry you had to see that.”

He brushed off his hands and mumbled. Aisha was speechless. She had heard that the second prince was a skilled knight, but even seeing it with her own eyes, it was hard to believe.

He had a delicate, almost feminine face and wasn’t especially big compared to her brother Daniel, who was also a knight. Yet that arm of his had lifted a grown man with one hand. It was shocking.

While she stood frozen in place, Jared shifted awkwardly. Aisha finally came to her senses and tried to bow and thank him. But just as she was about to lower her head, she heard a familiar voice and footsteps approaching.

“Aisha!”

“Daniel? Daniel! Brother!”

At the sound of her brother’s voice, her tension broke and tears filled her eyes. She ran into Daniel’s arms. Surprised by how different she looked, Daniel held her and looked around.

“What happened here?”

Who were these beaten-up men on the floor? Why was Prince Jared here with his sister? Not understanding the situation, Daniel checked Aisha over, then gently pushed her behind him in a protective stance. Seeing her brother’s wary expression, Aisha whispered softly.

“His Highness saved me.”

“What?”

“Those men… they tried to…”

As she remembered being held down and humiliated, Aisha’s mind went blank. Fear rushed in too late, and she couldn’t continue speaking. Seeing this, Daniel gently comforted her.

“It’s okay, Aisha. You don’t need to say anything. Just calm down. It’s all right.”

Though his voice was soft and warm for his sister, his eyes toward the unconscious men were cold and murderous. Jared stepped closer to the siblings. As soon as Daniel realized he was near, he quickly bowed low. He moved so fast that Jared nearly bumped into him.

“Your Highness. Thank you for saving my sister.”

Jared, looking embarrassed, motioned for him to rise. Daniel stood up just as fast as he bowed, his face full of gratitude toward the prince.

Support To the One Who’s Only Cold to Me